‘Death at a Funeral’ sued by crazy Jamaican lady

A woman has filed a $20 million lawsuit against the makers of Death at a Funeral (the British version and the Chris Rock remake), saying they ripped off her 1995 book about being stripped of her clothes at a Jamaica funeral. The book? Caught on Video … The Most Embarrassing Moment de Funeral, July 11, 1994, Jamaican Volume 1. Well of course, who could forget that best seller? Send me messages through the TV, Hollywood Reporter:

Pamela Lawrence lists similarities in incidents, characters and settings between the works. For example, Martin Lawrence plays a writer who is traveling from L.A. to New York and complains that if he doesn’t get money, he’ll have to do a reality show. In her book, Pamela Lawrence is a writer from New York traveling to Los Angeles with problems worthy of a talk show.

Who flies between New York and L.A. AND talks about TV? PRACTICALLY IDENTICAL.

The similarities are somewhat thin, but the plaintiff says her work (including a videotape of her real life experience) was strong enough that agents at William Morris signed her as a client.
In 1998, Lawrence says she was contacted by the co-vice chairman of Sony’s Columbia TriStar to attend a “pitch meeting.” Later, she was allegedly told by them to “get lost, if you can afford to prove our action see you in court, we employee (sic) the best attorneys.”

According to the complaint, Lawrence responded by filing a lawsuit against them about a decade ago. In 2001, that case was allegedly settled on undisclosed terms, a fact which Lawrence claims made its way into the 2010 film as a joke about Col. Harland Sanders stealing the recipe for KFC fried chicken from a slave and then settling a claim.

Lawrence is representing herself in court her claims include racism, a plot to eradicate the female population of urban cities, and allegations of inside jokes within the movie that were specifically intended to humiliate her.
Many of the claims stretch reason, but Lawrence has also gone to extreme lengths to craft a 54-page complaint that almost looks and feels as if it was drawn up by a $500-an-hour attorney. She cites applicable laws and case citations (although none are required in complaints), copyright registrations, numerous exhibits and perhaps most impressively a frame work intended to bypass the legal pitfalls that typically trip up those asserting idea theft in Hollywood.
That is, if a judge can see beyond the rampant paranoia on display in the lawsuit. Lawrence claims the defendants intended to destroy the “female competition” from the “inner city” in relevant markets by distributing the film, that Hollywood has a consistent pattern of discriminating against women as evidenced by the fact it took 82 years for a woman to win best director at the Oscars, and that this case is an example of why there are so few minorities at Sony Pictures.

That the lawsuit would be rambling and paranoid doesn’t surprise me at all, because, as I wrote in my upcoming book, Sweeping Generalizations and Casual Xenophobia, raving street people are Jamaiacan at least 62% of the time. I based this on a subway ride I once took with a lady wearing a newspaper diaper who sang “Me no like lesbians an’ me no like batty buays/stay outta my life/don’ follow me aroun'” over and over again for 40 minutes. In her defense, she had a beautiful voice. Long story short, I would describe her accent as “very Jamaican sounding.”

Pamela Lawrence also sued Steven Seagal, because she had a twin sister who dealt drugs and was killed by a 6’4″ Akido Master who was Marked for Death.

By: Donkey Hodey

07.07.2010 @ 1:51 PM

She’s also planning a lawsuit against Charles Dickens’ estate for pre-writing a joke into the first line of ‘A Christmas Carol’ designed to humiliate all Jamaicans.

By: B.K.

07.07.2010 @ 1:52 PM

And this is why, children, I will not pass your screenplay on to Adam Sandler.

By: ChinoMoreno

07.07.2010 @ 1:54 PM

Pamela Lawrence is filing a lawsuit against Dave Chappelle as she also had to poop while on her flight.

By: Burnsy

07.07.2010 @ 1:56 PM

… a plot to eradicate the female population of urban cities…

Yeah, good luck with that.

By: Donkey Hodey

07.07.2010 @ 1:57 PM

Pamela Lawrence is suing Joey Lawrence for stealing her surname. The defendant responded “this is a wholly baseless accusation and I am embarrassed for the legal system that a frivolous suit like this could be filed in the first place. I intend to defend myself to the utmost while showing that this is all some sort of sick, twisted, and long-winded joke” He then looked around at disappointed reporters, sighed heavily, rolled his eyes and said “WHOA!”, much to everybody’s delight.

By: Shop 101

07.07.2010 @ 2:00 PM

This must not go to trial. The jury could be dreadlocked.

Uh huh, I’m going.

By: B.K.

07.07.2010 @ 2:00 PM

Later, she was allegedly told by them to “get lost, if you can afford to prove our action see you in court, we employee (sic) the best attorneys.”

The “sic” is where “But you will blow me first” goes.

By: Burnsy

07.07.2010 @ 2:00 PM

In all fairness, this is an actual quote from the film:

Aaron: “Let me get this straight. Our dad was bro-mantically involved with a guy that could fit in his pocket, and you’re mad because he’s white… PAMELA LAWRENCE.”

By: Påüłÿ Ðąηgęrσűşľγ

07.07.2010 @ 2:03 PM

Pamela Lawrence is also suing Grimus and Barney for looking like her nipples.

By: Morton Salt

07.07.2010 @ 2:11 PM

I’m suing Pamela Lawrence for selling me a dime-bag of oregano. I don’t know what she thought was in that baggie, but my spaghetti ended up tasting like pencil shavings.

By: Stinky Peet

07.07.2010 @ 2:12 PM

@Burnsy: if anyone was going to sue over stealing the story of a bro-mance with something white that fit in a pocket, it would be Fek. And he has the scars to prove it.

By: Donkey Hodey

07.07.2010 @ 2:12 PM

If the studio is smart, they’ll settle out of court with her for a percentage of the net profits and then when she agrees, they’ll send her a bill for $20M.

By: Donkey Hodey

07.07.2010 @ 2:17 PM

a plot to eradicate the female population of urban cities

Calm down, they’ve only released ‘Precious’ once…

By: Dumplin Nuggs

07.07.2010 @ 2:55 PM

“Lawrence claims made its way into the 2010 film as a joke about Col. Harland Sanders stealing the recipe for KFC fried chicken”